The Gate Lounge — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Group Background: I was with a party of 18 Saturday June 17th at $70 dollars a person plus tax and tip for a friend's birthday event. This price does not include hookah or acohol. Valet parking is $15. And the valet workers call parking enforcement to anyone that parks on a expired public meter or is parked in a zone that becomes illegal after a certain hour. I have not been to the gate for at least a decade. Let's just say I was reluctant because of my previous underwhelming experience..

Food: Appetizers are superb across the board. I tried their hummus, Tabouleh, baba-ganouj, fatoush, kibbeh Naya, and taziki.. their cooked dishes were sub par. Deep fried cheese roll (boorek) was under whelming, the other deep fried meat stuffed kibbeh (no clue what it's called) I did not try but I was told it was not good. Their main dishes, ground beef kebob was quiet dry. Their chicken was charred and ultra dry. The third meat dish which was supposed to be included in the most expensive $70 dollar menu was not on the plate. Rice I did not try.

Beverage: coke was frizzy - good

Desert: The cake disappeared.

Alcohol: We took our own alcohol and were charged 45 dollars per bottle we took as a concierge service but were never brought classes to drink or offered ice. We were provided with shot glasses.

Entertainment: this is where they shine most. Belly dancing was great. Their band was great, very loud but it could be just me. Their solo big drum holder was superb and a great entertainer. Their female singer Rita Farah was multilingual which was very inviting and helped blend different demographics. But the star of the night was the gentleman Hadad. He only sang in Arabic but he was amazing. He tried his best to still acknowledge all other cultures but he made the night worth staying and kept the crowd engaged and dancing.

Service: food was late most of the time but entertainment kept most distracted. The main waiter responsible for our table acknowledged us once and would periodically check if water or coke refills were needed. The servers were rather inconsiderate. They would slam their service portable wooden table and I would always think someone dropped and broke their plate behind me or worse some one fell and broke something..

Overall: I can not justify going there for the food at that price. Their service is poor but their entertainment does the heavy lifting to counter that.

Would I go again? Maybe once a year at most. If zi am longing for that middle eastern entertainment, I might consider it.

Final Thoughts: I am torn tbh

The bill after 4 bottle concierge service, 2 hookahs, 70 dollars x18, tax and tip was over $2000 USD.

That is 120 a person if we are covering birthday boys tab.

In the end, I don't think...

Attended a birthday party last Thursday. Service was horrible. There may of been a total of 75 people in the entire venue and maybe a total of 4 employees scheduled including the cook & bartender. It took our table of 4, 35mins to get our drinks. There was 1 bartender scheduled. Once our beverages finally arrived the waiter took our food order. We all ordered the Greek Salad which took about another 40mins. Once the server arrived with all of the salads he was accidently pushed by another passing server and dropped an entire plate of salad onto my lap. He immediately apologized and said he would bring me another salad but by this time my outfit was completely covered in olive oil. I asked to speak with the manager. The manager never came to my table. I had to go track him down. When I mentioned the incident he just brushed it off by saying it was an accident. I questioned as to why he never came to the table as I requested and he provided me with no answer. Just tried to brush me off. I remained persistent in asking him for his business card, advising him that I will be sending them my cleaning bill. He proceed to tell him he would not be paying my bill and offered me $15. I continued to explain to him that I take extreme care of my clothes and I would rather take my outfit to the cleaners and bring the bill back into him for payment. He argued with me about the money and said take what I am offering you. I refused his offer and again advised him that I would be back in with my cleaning bill. Never have I ever experienced such disrespect from a manager when his employees were in the wrong. All I was asking for was my cleaning bill for the 2 clothing items to be covered. Never ask for any type of compensation on my food/drink bill. I have since sent a certified letter to the restaurant and I am currently waiting on a response.

They will never get my...

I had a horrible experience here. First off there seems to be a lack of care for the guests. And I was disresepcted and met with a rude response so many times when inquiring about the food. I also noticed this place overworks their employees. They have 1 busser serving over 300 guests. That is Labor Abuse and should be reported to the City Labor board. They also have their worker lifting heavy trays with 20 plates on it. I think the owner is greedy and trying to cut costs by not having more workers but this is Labor abuse. They seem to not care about their workers or customers. It's all about how much money they can make which is extremely self centered. I also heard a girl was SA here by one of the owners. Report this place for Labor Abuse and have them looked into for the way they are running their business. They need to be held accountable. If you treat people unfairly and harrass them it comes back to you. Maybe start treating other people better instead of just thinking of yourself and how much money you make. People are starting to notice how you treat your customers and employees. Maybe the food wouldn't take so long if you had more bussers. I get you are trying to cut costs but you are overworking your staff and that's not right. Do better and remember. Treat others how you want to be treated. That's the golden rule which you business seems...